Monster
by Garfakcy-chan
Summary: Hiroto and Midorikawa get the invite to the meeting for Inazuma Japan, but Hiroto might be going alone...HxM, rated for Burn's mouth  warning: swearing
1. Chapter 1

Hiya peoples! Here's more HiroMido coming attcha! I was thinking about Midorikawa's self-confidence issues and I wanted to expand on it a little bit. Reize is actually the only Aliea captain that did actual illegal attacks (destroying the schools, kidnapping the Prime Minister, injuring the members of the opposing team, etc.) and Midorikawa already has a poor image of himself to begin with.

I apologize if this isn't as good as my other works. I've been having some problems lately. I went to the doctor for different reason but left with an appointment with my college's counseling center. Apparently, according to the doctor and some of my friends, I have symptoms for minor depression, so I'll be getting evaluated this Monday. We'll see how that goes.

Edit: made some corrections to this chap, as recommended by the lovely Oneofyourbiggestfans. Thanks for the critique, hon!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven or its characters.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Hiroto relaxed against the back of the couch and propped his book up on his knees. Sun Garden had been very quiet lately and a good number of children (himself included) had taken to lounging in the living room for hours on end, playing video games and reading.

Hiroto thought it was boring. Other than playing soccer with the others, there wasn't too much to do. Ever since Gazel had been whisked away to Korea by Aphrodi (for who knows why, he didn't even know they knew each other) and Burn had lost his verbal sparring partner, things had been far too quiet.

Hiroto perked up a bit when a familiar greenette entered the room. He'd always been attracted to the smaller boy but had never had the courage or opportunity to make any type of move with fear of scaring him off. And the greenette's antisocial behavior hadn't helped. Especially during and after Aliea Academy, Midorikawa had become very reserved and quiet, preferring to hole up in his room alone.

The redhead watched as the younger boy leaned over the back of the chair Hitomiko sat in to hand her a stack of letters and other mail. She smiled and accepted it before standing up. "Mail's here!" she called. Hiroto chuckled to himself as the room flooded with kids. Hitomiko leafed through the mail.

"An, you got a letter from your pen pal."

"Yay!"

"Reina, your magazine is here."

"Thanks!"

"Nagumo, your math textbook is finally here."

"Damn it!"

Hitomiko paused and held a letter up for a second. "Hiroto, you have a letter from Coach Hibiki." Green eyes blinked and the redhead got up off the couch to accept the letter. "What is it?" Reina asked, looking over his shoulder. "I'm not sure." Hiroto said. The other kids gathered around the boy, trying to see the letter. Hiroto opened the envelope and carefully unfolded the letter. He let his eyes scan over the contents.

"What is it?" Nagumo asked. Reina looked at him. "Hiroto got invited to some meeting at Raimon for soccer players." Burn's jaw dropped and he was about to yell but was cut off by the rest of the kids instantly converging on the redhead, wanting to see the letter or congratulate the boy.

Through the chaos, Hiroto managed to catch a flick of green hair as it disappeared from the room.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Hiroto lost count as to how many times he had reread the letter. It made his heart pound in his chest. This could be the opportunity he had worked for his whole life. Everything could finally be paying off.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Hiroto stopped as he heard his sister's voice from around the corner. He peeked around the side and spotted her and Midorikawa standing in the hallway. Hitomiko was gripping a piece of paper in her hand.

"I'm just not interested." The greenette said softly. The dark haired woman crossed her arms over her chest. "It could be a great opportunity." Midorikawa just shrugged. "I know. I'm not interested." Hitomiko frowned and leaned down to him, taking his hands in hers. "Midorikawa, is something wrong? Is there anything you want to talk about?" Hiroto's eyes widened when Midorikawa ripped his hands away from the woman and angrily snatched the piece of paper from her.

"I said I don't want to go!" he screamed, chucking the crumple paper against the wall and taking off down the hall. Hitomiko yelled after him and followed. After they were out of sight, Hiroto turned into the hall and picked up the crumpled piece of paper off the floor. He read it quietly to himself and blinked in shock.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Midorikawa sighed as he walked towards his room. He felt bad for screaming at Hitomiko. She was only trying to help, after all. The greenette sighed and pushed the door to his room open. He gasped when he found a familiar redhead sitting on his bed. "H-Hiroto? What are you doing here?" Hiroto looked up at him then pushed himself up off the bed and pulled the paper out of his pocket. Midorikawa tensed.

"W-where did you get that?" he asked. Hiroto turned the paper around a couple times. "Found it in the hallway." He turned his eyes to the greenette. "Why did you throw this away?" Midorikawa averted his eyes from the older boy and fidgeted with the edge of his shirt. "I-I just didn't want to go, that's all." Hiroto frowned.

"Why?" Midorikawa swallowed and wrapped his arms around himself. "I'm just not interested." He mumbled. The green haired boy spun around and tried to head to the door but Hiroto seized his upper arm and yanked him back. Midorikawa yelped quietly in surprise.

"Don't lie to me." Hiroto said firmly. Midorikawa trembled under Hiroto's piercing gaze. It took a lot to make the redhead angry and Midorikawa had never actually seen him so.

Hiroto suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing and instantly released the younger boy, letting him stumble back a bit. Hiroto sucked in a breath and bowed his head, pushing a hand into his hair and gripping his bangs. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh with you." Midorikawa rubbed his arm slightly and turned away from Hiroto. "I just don't want to see you give this up for no reason."

"Why would they even invite me?" Hiroto looked up at the greenette, surprised. Midorikawa let his arms drop to his side and turned his eyes to the floor. "After what I did to everyone, why would they want me to come? I'm not even good. I'm a monster." Hiroto gasped and quickly moved to take the younger boy's hands in his own.

"Don't say that! You're not a monster!" Hiroto wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and held him tightly. Midorikawa pressed his hands to Hiroto's chest and dropped his forehead to his shoulder. "Everyone'll hate me. I hurt so many people." Hiroto tightened his grip.

"You didn't hurt anyone. That was Reize. You're Midorikawa. They won't hate you. They aren't like that." Midorikawa shook his head and Hiroto held him tighter. The redhead felt his heart drop into his stomach when the other boy began to shake and sobs escaped from his throat. He wanted to say something but settled on just holding the smaller boy and rocking him gently. After a moment, Hiroto picked him up bridal style and carried him to the bed. Hiroto sat down and held the greenette in his lap and nuzzled the top of his head.

"Are you okay?" Hiroto asked as Midorikawa's sobs died down. The green haired boy sniffled a little bit before nodding. "I'm sorry." He said softly, pressing his hands to his face and sniffling. Hiroto smiled and pushed his hands away, reaching a hand up to brush some remaining tears from his eyes. "It's fine. You can cry if you need to. I'll stay right here." Midorikawa reached up and wiped his eyes on his sleeves. "Thank you." Hiroto smiled softly and took the younger boy's cheek in his hand and ran a thumb under his eye to wipe away another tear. Midorikawa blushed as Hiroto started to lean towards him.

Both boys leapt apart abruptly when the door clicked open and Hitomiko leaned in. "Oh…is everything okay?" she asked, spying Midorikawa on the floor where he'd fallen off the bed. The two boys nodded frantically, Midorikawa blushing heavily. Hitomiko smiled and held up the cordless phone. "Coach Hibiki is on the phone for you two. Should I tell him to call back later?"

Hiroto shook his head. "No, that's fine. We'll take it." Hiroto cast a look over his shoulder to Midorikawa who took a deep breath and nodded. Hiroto grinned and held out a hand to the smaller boy. The greenette hesitantly accepted the gesture. Hitomiko smiled a little to herself and passed the redhead the phone and shut the door. Hiroto regarded the other boy with another smile before bringing the phone to his ear.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Burn huffed loudly as he dropped down onto his bed on his stomach. "This sucks! Gran and Reize got invited to some soccer thing! Gazel's in fucking Korea! And I'm fucking stuck here!" the redhead grabbed one of his pillows and chucked it at the door. He jumped when the door swung open and the fluffy bed accessory smacked Hiroto in the face. The fellow redhead blinked a couple of times in surprise before speaking.

"Not the 'hello' I expected but oh well. Someone's on the phone for you." Burn blinked. Someone was on the phone for him?

"Are you gonna take it?" Hiroto asked. Burn quickly shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, yeah, I'll take it." Burn got up off the bed and accepted the phone from the redhead. Hiroto grinned and walked from the room. Burn leaned a little to one side, catching a glimpse of a familiar greenette leaning on the wall opposite his room. The younger boy blushed slightly as Hiroto turned and gave him a soft smile, touching his face tenderly for a moment before grasping his hand and pulling him down the hall.

Burn rolled his eyes then suddenly remembered the phone in his hand. He looked at it for a second before raising it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Burn? Hey, it's Gazel…"


	2. Chapter 2

Hi! Interesting development here^_^ I accidently forgot to select 'complete' when I submitted my new story 'Monster' (I only realized this when I got a story alert from Birdincage2903-_-0). Well, I didn't want to disappoint, so here's a second chapter! Thanks to her this story is going in a whole new direction^_^

Also, to whoever Oneofyourbiggestfans is, what parts do you think were rushed? I was in a bit of a slump when I wrote this so please tell me so I can fix them.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven or any of its characters. I am not making any money off of this.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Midorikawa sucked in a breath as Hitomiko's car pulled up to Raimon middle school. He remembered it easily, but it was a much bigger mess the last time he had been there. He felt his stomach churn a little at the memory. At the time, he hadn't felt any kind of remorse for destroying Raimon, now the very thought made him sick to his stomach. The greenette jumped when he felt a hand rest on top of his and he turned to regard the redhead sitting next to him. Hiroto smiled softy at the boy and gripped his hand.

"Relax, it'll be fine. Just be yourself." Midorikawa breathed again and nodded. Hiroto beamed happily and nearly yanked the other boy from the car as he got out. The greenette felt his heart beat faster as they neared the school, but the redhead in front of him refused to release his grip and pulled him into the gym. The instant they were inside, Midorikawa made a beeline for the nearest dark corner and dropped to the floor, drawing his knees tightly to his chest and watching the few other players that had arrived early. Hiroto sighed and took a seat next to him.

"You don't have to be so nervous, you know. No one will blame you for what happened." He said calmly. The younger boy just gripped his knees a little tighter to his chest and let his eyes sweep across the gym. He recognized a couple of the players there but there were a few he'd never seen before. There was one boy leaning against the same wall that he was sitting against, but he was much father down by the opposite side of the gym. He had a strange hairstyle (it reminded Midorikawa of a moose) and was constantly running a comb through it. He stared until the other boy met his gaze then quickly averted his eyes to the rest of the room.

The switch player from Hakuren was there and so were the defenders from Oumihara and Manyuuji. There were a lot of players from Raimon there and they were all clustered around each other. The former Teikoku captain was standing towards the back of the gym with the cerulean haired forward from Teikoku.

'_They're standing awfully close to each other.'_ Midorikawa thought. The greenette jumped when a hand rested on his shoulder and he turned his eyes to the redhead next to him. Hiroto used his thumb to tuck a loose strand of hair behind the younger boy's ear. "Relax, 'kay?"

Midorikawa sighed and nodded slightly. Hiroto pulled his hand away and rested his arms on top of his knees, watching as new players filed in and began to mill about the gym. "I hope Endou will be here." He smiled and turned to the smaller boy who regarded him with curious eyes. "I've been waiting…to play soccer with him…for real this time." The greenette smiled and rested his chin on his knees as he watched the redhead.

"He really made an impact on you, didn't he?" Hiroto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you could definitely say that." He leaned back against the wall and tilted his head towards the ceiling. "After I met him, soccer has a whole new meaning now." He turned his eyes back to the greenette. "I've put a lot of things into perspective." He reached over and placed a hand over the other boy's tanner one. "I know what's important to me now." Midorikawa blushed heavily now and averted his eyes back to the floor.

"Hiroto." The both boy's heads snapped up and the green eyed one smirked at the blond standing over them. "Hey." Midorikawa's eyes went wide. If anyone here was going to hate him, it was Goenji. After all, he had ordered a threat against his sister to keep him from playing for Raimon and weaken their team. It hadn't concerned him in the slightest (at the time) that she was hospitalized or that she had just awoken from a long term coma.

Goenji reached down and the two boys caught hands, the blond pulling Hiroto to his feet. The two boys shook hands briefly before pulling apart, Hiroto shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'm not surprised to see you here. I take it you got the invite too?"

Hiroto smirked and nodded. "Not just me." He looked towards Midorikawa who immediately looked at the floor. Hiroto frowned and sat down, casting a worried glance to the boy sitting against the wall. He reached and placed a hand on the other boy's back, rubbing little circles on the small of his back beneath his shirt. Goenji sat against the other wall and tilted his head to try and get a better view at the boy's face. Midorikawa let his eyes flicker over to the blond for a moment then buried his face in his knees and hugged them tightly to his body. _'Please don't recognize me. Please don't recognize me. Please don't recognize me.'_

"Reize?"

The greenette's body froze up, a small gasp escaping his lips. He knew who he was. The black eyed boy bit down hard on his lip and waited for the angry screaming.

"Are you alright?" Midorikawa blinked in surprise. He turned his head to the blond, but all he saw was concern in the fire striker's dark eyes. He jumped a little when Goenji placed a hand on his back. "You know, I'm glad you're okay. When Endou told me what Epsilon did after you guys lost, I thought something horrible might have happen to you guys. I'm relieved."

Midorikawa's eyes widened slightly before he looked away. "But…but I…" he felt his eyes start to water and quickly began rubbing at them with his sleeve. Hiroto let his arm slide completely around the younger boy's waist and pulled him to lean on him, whispering comforting words to him. He brought his other hand up to play with the greenette's hair.

Goenji kept his hand on the younger boy's shoulder and squeezed slightly. He mulled over some options that might help but eventually decided against them and stayed as he was. He looked over to Hiroto and mouthed 'What's wrong?', but the other boy just shook his head and held the greenette.

When Midorikawa finally calmed down he pulled away from Hiroto, wiping his eyes a couple more times. He jumped and looked up sharply when they heard the door slid open and the familiar voice of the Raimon captain begin greeting people. Goenji mouthed something to Hiroto before standing up and making his way over to the brunet. Hiroto took the dark eyed boy's chin in his hand and turned his face to him.

"See? No one hates you. You need to stop upsetting yourself over this. You'll make yourself sick like last time." The greenette looked away shamefully. When Aliea Academy had first gotten underway, Midorikawa had been so concerned with performing well as a captain that he had neglected nutrition, sleep, and relaxation in general.

As the lowest ranking captain he was subject to the whims of other captains, as well as some of the team members. Prominence had been the biggest offender, dumping most of their workload on the greenette in addition to his own work. It didn't help that he would offer his assistance even when he couldn't handle the extra work. Eventually, the stress and lack of health caused his immune system to fail and he ended up bedridden with pneumonia. That had not been fun.

Hiroto stood suddenly, startling the greenette next to him. The redhead watched the group lowly gathering around Endou for a moment and offered Midorikawa his hand. The green haired boy hesitantly took it and was pulled to his feet. Hiroto held his chin again and forced him to look at him.

"I won't make you go over there and talk to them, but I think you should. If anyone tries anything and it doesn't look like you can handle it, I'll step in and punch them in the face, 'kay?" Hiroto beamed happily at the dark eyed boy and Midorikawa couldn't help but giggle, bring a hand up to stifle the noise. Hiroto smiled and leaned up briefly to kiss the younger boy's forehead, causing him to blush considerably.

Hiroto finally pulled away from him, hearing Goenji refer to him. He quickly went to the blonde's side and began chatting up the Raimon goalie. Midorikawa leaned back against the wall and watched them. Maybe Hiroto was right. Endou seemed to be more than okay with Hiroto's presence, as did everyone else there. Goenji had even been happy to see him. Maybe if the redhead put in a good word for him, they wouldn't hate him as much.

"Someone else is here too." Hiroto turned in his direction, the others in their group following his eyes to land on him. The greenette quickly sucked in a sharp breath and began to walk towards them.

'_Here goes nothing.'_


	3. Chapter 3

I'm back, my pretties! Who missed me? *Hit with tomato* My hair! Lol Anyways, sorry this took so long. I got a lot of work piled on to me at the last second and I had a couple mental break downs, but I'm okay. Anyway, I re-watched the episodes I needed for this chap. Hope it was worth it! We're jumping to episode 76 now. I'm sort of planning to do this as a 'behind the scenes' type fic. Basically, I'll be focusing on events leading up to what you actually see in the anime and some background thoughts during the scenes. This chapter will focus more on Hiroto's thoughts and feelings.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inazuma Eleven or its characters. I do not profit from this story.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Hiroto sighed quietly to himself as he lay back on his bed. He'd barely seen Midorikawa all day after practice and he was beginning to worry. Lately, he'd noticed the greenette had seemed tired and worn out. Hiroto would often see him practicing alone at night too. 'He's pushing himself too hard again.' He thought. Seeing Midorikawa practicing at night had brought back all too familiar memories of the greenette spending hours and hours in intensive training during his time at Aliea Academy. And he'd only pushed himself more after his exile from the project.

'_He's going to destroy himself.'_ Hiroto sucked in a breath and stared up at the ceiling, tracing the thin cracks in the mortar with his eyes. Part of him was saying that he needed to let Midorikawa handle it himself, but the part of him that loved the green haired boy wanted to do something to stop his pain. It hurt him to watch the other boy suffer by his own means.

The redhead jumped slightly when someone knocked loudly on his door. "Hey! Are you coming to dinner?" Tsunami opened the door and leaned in, smiling at the former Genesis captain. Hiroto returned the smile and nodded as he pushed himself off the bed and followed the pink haired boy down the hall. They headed down the stairs and into the cafeteria where the rest of the team was gathering. Hiroto felt his heart jump slightly when he spied the dark eyed boy that had held his attention for the last few days.

Hiroto fell out of his thoughts when Tsunami placed a hand on his arm and pulled him over to where the girls were dishing out food. They accepted the trays from the girls and Tsunami pointed to a spot by Kabeyama. "Wanna sit over there?" Hiroto paused for a moment then shook his head. "I'm going to hang back for a moment." Tsunami raised an eyebrow but nodded and walked over to sit down. Hiroto leaned his back against the wall as he listened to Kidou speak, all the while keeping his eyes on the greenette.

Midorikawa, overall, seemed rather uninterested in what Kidou had to say, regarding the brunet with a brief gaze every now and then as he ate. Kidou rattled on about combinations shoots and new hissatsus, but Hiroto was too focused on Midorikawa to really pay attention._ 'He seems okay right now. Maybe I'm just blowing this out of proportion.'_ He thought. Eventually, he was waved over by a couple of the other team members and sat down to eat.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

"Bring it!"

Hiroto watched from his place on the sidelines as Fubuki and Hijitaka charged toward the goal. The first run was a failure, resulting in Fubuki getting slammed by the ball. After the white haired boy assured everyone he was fine, Kidou sent them all off to practice.

They quickly separated into two teams and Tachimukai tossed the ball in. Kidou got it right away and sent it to Kogure but Midorikawa swiped it before he could pass, only to be blocked by Tormaru. The two boy's battle for the ball for a moment before the black haired tiger managed to slip the ball away. Kidou yelled a congratulations but the greenette wasn't so supportive. Midorikawa slid for the ball but Tormaru jumped over the move and passed to Tobitaka.

Hiroto smiled slightly. _'Toramaru has gotten so much better. I don't know where it came from but he's totally changed.' He _raised an eyebrow when he caught a flash of green in the corner of his eye. He turned to watch Midorikawa grab a water bottle from the bench and chug it down, panting heavily when he finished.

'_He's exhausted.'_ Hiroto thought. The greenette placed the water bottle aside after taking another drink and took off on a run. Hiroto was immediately tempted to follow him but stopped himself. _'I need to give him a chance to work it out himself.' _Hiroto continued to stare after the dark eyed boy for a moment before Kidou called him back to practice.

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

The team exchanged exclamations of relief as they sat down to eat. Hiroto noticed a free seat by Midorikawa but was pulled over to another table by Tachimukai before he could do anything. He overheard Kazemaru and Kidou discussing the wind user's new hissatsu and Tsunami's overexcitement about his combination hissatsu while his partner expressed a much different emotion.

"S-SPICY!"

Everyone in the room jumped when Hijitaka suddenly leapt from his chair and began running around the room. Kogure let out his trademark laugh and held up a small bottle of hot sauce. Hiroto watched the chaos for a moment before picking up his tray and walking over to the greenette who now sat alone. He caught a sigh from the dark eyed boy as he approached.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked softly. Midorikawa spun around, startled by the redhead's sudden presence. "Hiroto." Said boy smiled and sat down. He chuckled inwardly when the greenette fidgeted nervously and shifted around in his seat. "How have you been? I haven't gotten to see you much." Midorikawa poked at his food a little bit. "I'm okay."

"No one's giving you and problems?" Midorikawa shook his head, keeping his dark eyes trained on his food. Hiroto took a bite of his own lunch, watching the greenette quietly as he pushed the food around on his plate. "You're not going to eat?" the redhead asked. He watched the former Gemini Storm captain tense slightly then shake his head. "I'm not very hungry."

Hiroto reached over and touched his hand. "You should eat. You need to keep up your strength for practice." Midorikawa mutely nodded, never moving his eyes from his tray. Hiroto frowned and squeezed his hand slightly, averting his eyes to the table. Midorikawa jumped when Hiroto suddenly let go of his hand to grab his tray and stood up sharply.

"Finish eating then meet me on the field in ten minutes." Midorikawa watched in confusion as Hiroto stormed from the room. He'd never seen the red haired boy so intense before. The greenette jumped slightly when he registered what Hiroto had said and quickly shoveled his food down.

"Ah! That's spicy!"

*~8~8~8~8~8~*

Midorikawa looked around at the dark field as he jogged closer. He couldn't see Hiroto anywhere. Had he taken too long? Had the other boy left?

The greenette's eyes went wide and he gasped and brought his arms up in front of his face as a soccer ball shot past his head. He whimpered slightly, eyes screwed shut as he stood there trembling and waiting for the next attack.

"Look at me."

Midorikawa slowly opened his eyes and lowered his arms. A familiar redhead stood in front of the goal, foot resting on top of a soccer ball. "Hiroto?" Midorikawa said cautiously. Said boy locked his eyes on the younger boy and lifted his foot off the ball. Midorikawa barely had any time to get out of the way when he fired the ball at him.

The greenette yelped when he hit the ground, folding his arms tightly over his head. What was Hiroto doing? He tensed when he heard footsteps approach. He gasped when Hiroto grabbed his arms and hauled him to his feet. "Take your track suit off. We're training. Now." Midorikawa swallowed and shed his track pants and jacket. He felt uneasy about Hiroto's sudden harsh attitude but it was obvious the redhead wasn't giving him much of an option. By the time he finished, Hiroto had received another ball.

Hiroto didn't give him much of a warning before firing the ball at him. This time, Midorikawa caught it with his chest and was able to pass it back. Hiroto kicked it back again and they continued like that for some time.

Midorikawa stumbled slightly as he nearly missed a pass. His chest felt tight and his head was spinning. He was sweating hard and could barely breathe. Midorikawa dropped his hands to his knees and panted heavily as he tried to re-center himself. "What's wrong, Midorikawa? Are you finished already?"

Hiroto's voice cut through his thoughts and the greenette felt tears well up in his eyes. "Who care's anymore! Even if someone like me tried to do more…!" Midorikawa felt his voice crack slightly during his outburst. Tears spilled over his cheeks as he panted. "It was a mistake in the first place to put someone from Aliea Academy's second rank team on here…"

The green haired boy sucked in a sharp breath. He never should have accepted Hibiki's invitation in the first place. Raimon's coach was wrong. He had nothing to offer these people. If he had been bested by them while using the power of the Aliea meteorite, how could they expect him to perform up to the world's standard without it?

"I don't think so"

Midorikawa gasped and lifted his head to stare at Hiroto in shock and confusion. Hiroto smiled at him, the first he'd seen since they had started this practice. "After Aliea Academy disappeared and you've been able to enjoy soccer with everyone, hasn't your soccer changed?" Midorikawa blinked. "My soccer?"

Hiroto shut his eyes. "You seemed to be overexerting yourself when you were with Gemini Storm, but after Aliea Academy was gone, you've been enjoying soccer with all of your heart. Running after the ball candidly and standing back up every time you fall. That's why you grew able to fight evenly with those from Epsilon and Genesis." Midorikawa watched the redhead as memories ran through his head, stunned. He had no idea Hiroto had been watching him so closely.

"And now you've been chosen to be here." Hiroto's smile widened and he opened his eyes, focusing them on the younger boy. "You'll be fine, Midorikawa. Have some confidence in your own soccer." Midorikawa stared at the redhead for a moment, allowing his words to sink in before he smiled too and nodded. Hiroto's own grin widened and he took a step forward, holding up a fist.

"Alright, then let's do it again."

"Yeah!"


End file.
